Bearing Witness: Memory, Representation, and Pedagogy
in the Post-Holocaust Age

Shenandoah University (Winchester, VA), April 12-13, 2010
Call for Papers

Survivor and poet Paul Celan wrote: “No one bears witness for the witnesses.” Co-organized by Shenandoah University (Winchester, Virginia) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, this interdisciplinary conference will address the implications of Celan’s claim for Holocaust Studies in scholarship and teaching as eyewitness voices begin to fade. Specifically, the conference will bring together scholars, teachers, students, and community members to explore: (1) how the study of the Holocaust will change—both inside and outside the classroom—without the benefit of eyewitnesses; (2) how literature, film, theater, and music can be used as interpretive voices of memory and teaching tools; (3) how teachers, scholars, and students can preserve and interpret memory responsibly, as the Holocaust becomes a more distant historical event and in the face of persistent Holocaust denial; (4) how Christian and Jewish responses and theologies frame, remember, and respond to this genocide; and (5) how memory of the Holocaust can affect action to halt genocide.

Papers are welcomed that critically examine the following subjects in terms of research and teaching:

• Teaching the Holocaust through Literature and Film: Sources, Challenges, and Scholarship

• The Future of Memory: Defining, Teaching, and Analyzing Testimony

• Memory and Faith: Christian and Jewish encounters with the Holocaust

Proposals are welcomed from undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty at accredited, degree-awarding colleges/universities (baccalaureate, the equivalent, or higher). Successful candidates will be required to submit a copy of their presentation four weeks in advance of the conference, for circulation among all conference presenters.